Ballon d’Or: Will Messi, Ronaldo dominance end soon?

On Monday December 13, Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo was once again named the top footballer in the world when he clinched the 2016 Ballon d’Or award.

It was the fourth time in Ronaldo’s career that he has won the award, further cementing his rivalry with Barcelona star, Lionel Messi.

Messi finished second in the voting, having already won the award five times in his career.

Ronaldo and Messi have been so dominant in the world of soccer that they have combined to win the last nine Ballon d’Or awards and have finished second nine times in the last decade.

Since 2008, these two incredible talents have dominated the award; Messi has five and Ronaldo four.

The last winner before this unprecedented era of dominance began was AC Milan’s Kaka in 2007, but Ronaldo and Messi still filled the runners-up and third positions, respectively.

Ronaldo won Ballon d’Or in 2008, 2013, and 2014. While Messi has clinched the title five times. Both players are competing fiercely in La Liga and the classic match called “El Classico”is the world’s most anticipated soccer game. Forbes estimated that the match attracts 400 million viewers worldwide, making in the world’s richest soccer match.

Ronaldo helped Madrid win the Champions League before lifting the Euro trophy for his country in France this year. The 2016 Euro trophy was the first national title for Ronaldo and few expected that Portugal would win the tournament, based on the unsatisfactory results in the group stage.

Ronaldo had his hands on the award for the first time in 2008 while playing for Premier League side, Manchester United, with Lionel Messi taking the award for a record four consecutive years (2009-2012 and 2015), and Ronaldo bouncing back with two consecutive years (2018, 2013, 2014 and 2016).

Ronaldo finished top of the voting while Messi and Antoine Griezmann makes the top three respectively.

Griezmann has been one of the most dangerous attackers in La Liga since the past few seasons. But he failed to help his club and country win the trophy, despite his incredible performance at home during the 2016 Euro with France national team.

While Messi won two domestic titles with Barcelona but failed again to help his country win international titles following Argentina’s second consecutive defeat against Chile in two Copa America finals (2015 and the Copa America Centenario 2016). In both occasions, Chile beat Argentina on a penalty shoot-out.

Since 2008, Ronaldo and Messi have been dominating Ballon D’Or. Kaka (Brazil) was the last player who won the award in 2007 before the dominance of Ronaldo-Messi began.

Luis Suarez and Neymar made the top 5. Gareth Bale, Riyad Mahrez, Jamie Vardy, Pepe and Gianluigi Buffon completed the top 10 lists.